2009.03.16

Hey, did you see that new logo for the Wisconsin Tourism Department? Did you make a snarky comment, or just come straight out say say “it sucks!”? Probably…

But, like most things… I’m sure there is more to the story.

I often speak about the difference between art and design. Yes, there is a difference. An artist creates work to satisfy themselves, while the designer creates work to satisfy the client. You could say the artist is their own client, which is why artists die poor. Designers, on the other hand, try to create work that is great, work they can be proud of, work that solves problems… but ultimately, the client makes the decisions.

So, when you hear that some company got $50,000 for a lame logo that totally sucks, you are outraged, and you make fun of it, and call it a “rip off” and say that your third grader could do better. While these things may be true, there are always other things to consider.

I can almost guarantee the State of Wisconsin did not just write a check to some company for $50,000 and a week later got this amazing logo in an email. You’ve dealt with government, right? The project probably took 3 years, and involved dozens of people, none of which agreed on anything. I’m sure there were better ideas that were scrapped, and there may be a whole campaign involving radio, tv, and print that is part of the $50,000. (Which would actually be a pretty tiny campaign.)There may have even been multiple people tagged as the “decision maker” throughout the process, which may have changed every month, or week, or maybe even the classic “design by committee” where a group of 20 people all had to agree on one thing, and ultimately, this was the outcome. (Hint: there’s a reason Steve Jobs makes all the decisions at Apple.)

Oh, not to mention, there are usually specific requirements a company has to meet to work with government organizations, including things like who owns the company, what involvement the company has with other organizations… you know, bureaucracy stuff. It’s what government is known for!

The designers I know, the ones who still have a passion for design, and haven’t just given up yet, love to be proud of their work, and want what they feel is best for the client… but at the end of the day, the client is the customer, and the customer is always right… right? (OK, the customer is not always right, but with the economic situation today, most companies are not in a position to fire their clients.)

If you’ve worked in the design industry, you’ve probably created work for a client that you didn’t like, or actually hated, but the client loved it, so you delivered it. It’s not going in your portfolio, and you don’t admit you designed it, but that’s just the way it goes sometimes…

And if you’re wondering… yes, I too think this logo stinks, but I blame the client.

(Disclaimer: I’ve worked in the design industry for many years, and am currently working with Z2 Marketing. I have a BFA in Graphic Design, but my titles have never included the word “designer” in them.)

12 Responses to “Design like you mean it…”

The “motto” was lifted from bacardi :)
Wisconsin has been known to throw money away on the dumbest things.. remember the Tourist information booths that went up about 2-3 years ago? half of them are shutdown now.. this is just one more thing to add to the burn pile..
what ever happened to having a competition for it? its almost free.. and up and comers can get in on the fun.. for all we know the best idea could come from a 6th grader with a handfull of crayons!
for instance take union grove… the town logo was drawn from a gradeschool student and it looks great!
i really cant blame the designer completely.. but this is just crap.. there has been better clip art than this.

skamphax0r, I don’t know that it can be proved the motto was “lifted” as I’ve seen that happen before, where a slogan/tagline is used and later someone else points out it’s been used before. I don’t think slogans/taglines are typically trademarked…

Contests tend to lower the value of design, and honestly, a 6th grader with crayons is probably not going to understand the requirements needed to produce work to solve the problem, and be used properly in print, web, and broadcast media.

And a small town is quite different from the State of Wisconsin in many ways…

i agree with you that a 6yr old probably wouldn’t understand all of that; i was exaggerating a bit much.. and by lifted im just saying it has been used before.. trademarked or not..

honestly though, when you think of Wisconsin are you thinking cartwheels and “live like you mean it”?
WI is a pretty laid back state.. our tourist attractions aren’t exactly high adrenaline. (fishing hall of fame, hiking, and the like) the motto seems to have nothing to do with wisconsin.. and the logo is nothing more than clipart and some text. i could have done the same thing..

but i do have to say.. i agree with your post.. the state having no idea what it wants played a huge part in the way it turned out.. but from my point of view.. i would have just walked away instead of giving them this… i wouldn’t want my company name associated with it.. it seems uninspired and tacky.

But to be fair, Mr. Raster, sometimes the design firm just phones it in. Look at the lovely Downtown Oconomowoc Logo. That was– literally– a $10,000 logo that was delivered once and nobody really had the chutzpah to say, “Holy Crap, This Sucks.”

skamphax0r, no, I don’t think of cartwheels… and I agree, it’s a bad logo. Next time you come up with an idea, try to do an extensive search to make sure it has never been used before. It’s not easy.

And walking away might be an option, but what if it meant you had to fire an employee, or close up shop. Sadly, at some point, you do need money to survive, and will probably do work you aren’t proud of to get it.

If they paid $10,000 for an *identity* (which is more than just a logo) that might not be an unreasonable amount. (Well, for a city it might be… for a large corporation, that would be way too small of an amount.)

Do you have the inside scoop from the firm that designed the Oconomowoc logo/identity?

No inside scoop. The opinions that come out of me are just opinions. However, after roughly 8 years of time served on the Oconomowoc city beat, I have a degree of incite into the way Ocono Goverment works and the involvement of the Chamber in the fabric of the Ocono Biz community.

You are an Oconomowoc Biz owner. Were you polled? I was a _chamber member_ at the time, and an on again, off again volunteer on their PR committee. _I_ wasn’t polled.

I’m sure there is some sort of secret covert meaning behind the logo. If you interpret the red man to be an “X”, this means X out the “SC”. If you rearrange the weird W to be a Z, the first four letters spell “ZION”.